Press release-Global Day of Action to boycott Israeli apartheid
With East Jerusalem under attack, Montrealers join Global Day of Action to Boycott Israeli Apartheid
Who: Members of Montreal Palestine solidarity groups and community organisations
What: Global Day of Action for the campaign to boycott Israeli apartheid
When: Tuesday, March 30, 4pm-6pm
Where: Phillips Square, across from The Bay, 585 Ste. Catherine St. West
MONTREAL, March 30 – As the world watches Israel ramp up its construction of illegal Jewish-only settlements in East Jerusalem and the West Bank with apparent impunity, Montrealers are taking to the streets as part of the Global BDS Day of Action against Israeli apartheid. The protest in Montreal takes place alongside similar actions in Egypt, England, France, Ireland, Japan, Scotland, the US and many other countries and is part of the growing international campaign for Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions, or BDS, against Israeli apartheid.
Montrealers will rally/hold a picket in Phillips Square, across from The Bay department store. They will be encouraging the boycott of three products and one store:
# Ahava Dead Sea products, made in an illegal settlement from stolen Palestinian natural resources, sold at The Bay department stores
# Israeli-made clothing and sports accessories, sold at Mountain Equipment Co-op stores
# Wines from the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights (Syrian territory), sold at SAQ stores
# Chapters-Indigo bookstores, whose majority shareholders have established the Heseg Foundation for Lone Soldiers which provides scholarships and other support to former “lone soldiers” in the Israeli military
“Canadians and Quebecers are concerned with the rapidly escalating Israeli colonization of Palestinian territory,” said Freda Guttman, spokesperson for Middle East solidarity group Tadamon! Montreal. “By selling Israeli products such as Ahava Dead Sea cosmetics and Golan Heights wines, local retailers are encouraging companies that benefit from the brutal Israeli system of apartheid and occupation in order to produce their goods. We are demanding that stores such as The Bay, MEC, and SAQ do the right thing and stop selling Israeli products.”
“Palestinians have called upon the international community to boycott Israel until it complies with international law and respects Palestinian human rights,” continued Guttman. “We are here today in response to that call and to support BDS as the key to achieving a just peace in Israel-Palestine.”
Background information:
March 30 coincides with Palestinian Land Day, which commemorates the day in 1976 when Israeli security forces shot and killed six young Palestinian citizens of Israel who were among the thousands of Palestinians protesting Israel”s expropriation of Palestinian land to build new Jewish-only colonies and expand existing Jewish-only cities. Today, Land Day commemorates Palestinian resistance to Israel “s ongoing policies of illegal land expropriation, colonization, occupation and apartheid. The international campaign for Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) against Israeli apartheid has become an essential part of this resistance.
Global BDS Day of Action Official Website
International campaign to boycott Ahava
Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement against Israeli apartheid
Boycott of Israeli products at Mountain Equipment Co-op
Boycott of Chapters-Indigo bookstores
Tadamon! Montreal
tel: 514 664 1036
email: info[at]tadamon.ca
